Skoda compact SUV in the works, may enter market by 2019

Skoda compact SUV will be based on the Volkswagen Group's MQB A0 architecture.

The compact SUV space is probably the car segment that's seeing the most frantic pace of developments currently, with many manufacturers announcing new models. While the global market was already in favour of smaller SUVs, the segment received a boost in India after the launch of the Vitara Brezza. The latest to join the bandwagon is Czech carmaker Skoda Auto.

Skoda has reportedly given the green signal to a compact SUV that will be positioned below the Yeti Crossover. The model is expected to join the SUV range of the carmaker by 2019. "We are already working on the car," Christian Strube, Skoda's technical development chief, said, Autocar UK reports. The model will be pitted against the Nissan Juke and Renault Captur in the global markets. In India, it will rival Hyundai Creta and Mahindra XUV500.

Skoda's compact SUV will be based on the Volkswagen Group's MQB A0 architecture that will also underpin the next generation of Skoda Fabia and VW Polo. Details of the small SUV are scarce at present but the platform is flexible for front and four-wheel drive. No decision has been taken on that front so far. The design will be extracted from the VisionS design study that Skoda unveiled at Geneva Motor Show in March 2016. The compact SUV will be powered by small capacity engines borrowed from the Rapid and the Octavia.

With the arrival of the compact SUV, Skoda Auto will be targeting a four vehicle SUV line-up by the end of this decade. Skoda is also said to be working on a five-door coupe version of the Kodiaq. Skoda's coupe SUV will initially target buyers in China. The response will dictate the decision of selling it in other countries. In that case, Skoda will launch Kodiaq SUV, Kodiaq coupe, next-gen Yeti crossover and compact SUV by 2020.